Book discussion: They want to kill Americans

The C-Span program Book TV aired an author's discussion about the book, They Want to Kill Americans: The Militias, Terrorists, and Deranged Ideology of the Trump Insurgency, by author Malcolm Nance. Nance argues that that another attack on U.S. soil is likely in view of what transpired in the January 6, 2021 coup attempt and the intelligence he was aware of before then. 

Nance was a counterterrorism analyst, but currently fights on the front lines with the Ukrainian army. He does that to defend what he sees as the seriously threatened eastern flank of democracy. His discussion on C-Span centers on what he sees as the seriously threatened western flank of democracy, namely the US.

The 56 minute discussion was taped on July 15, 2022 and first aired on Aug. 14.

The view that Nance takes makes my warnings about the seriousness and urgency of the threat that T**** and the Republican Party constitute feel understated. As the book title indicates, the They in his book title refers our heavily armed and very angry but deranged neighbors. He refers to Trumpism and the Republican Party as a cult.

A transcript of the program included these comments, which are at the link to the program given above.

At 17:48 Nance responded to a question about what the acronym TITUS referred to (bold emphasis added):

RIGHT. AND WHAT I WAS WATCHING WAS THESE PEOPLE ORGANIZE. NOT THE PROUD BOYS, THESE GUYS ARE EASY TO MONITOR. THESE GUYS ARE IDIOTS. THEY ARE ALL THESE WANT TO BE SPECIAL FORCES GUYS. THE PROUD BOYS ARE STREET THUGS. IT STARTED AS A GANG THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BEAT LIBERALS ON THE STREET WITH YOUR HANDS. BY GEORGE FLOYD SUMMER, EVERYBODY HAD AN AR-15. EVERYBODY WAS ROCKING BODY ARMOR. EVERYBODY WAS GOING OUT SPENDING $1000 ON A COMBAT HELMET AND WEARING SIZE 52 PENCE -- PANTS. WHAT WAS HAPPENING WAS THAT NAME , TITUS, WAS FORMING. THAT STANDS FOR TRUMP INSURGENTS IN THE UNITED STATES. IT WAS NOT BEING A BOOGALOO BOYS AND WEARING A HAWAIIAN SHORT -- A HAWAIIAN SHIRT. IT WAS NOT ABOUT BEING AN A OATH KEEPERS AND BELIEVING THE GOVERNMENT IS OUT TO GET YOU. IT WAS NOT ABOUT STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES IN WHITE SUPREMACY. THAT IS A GIVEN. IT IS ABOUT YOUR LOYALTY TO DONALD TRUMP. IF YOU ARE LOYAL TO DONALD TRUMP, YOU ALREADY SUBSCRIBE TO ALL OF THOSE THINGS. YOU HATED BLACK LIVES MATTER, ANITFA WAS AN ENEMY LIKE A KIND AND ISIS. IN YOUR HEAD, YOU MAY NEED TO HAVE A GUN BATTLE ON -- GUN BATTLE. ANOTHER THING PEOPLE WERE TALKING ABOUT, THERE IS ALWAYS THE SURVIVALIST ROLE. THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT THINGS BREAKING DOWN SO BADLY, AS ONE GOOD ANALYST SAID, A WORLD WITHOUT RULE OF LAW. WHEN THERE IS A NATURAL DISASTER AND THE COPS ARE NOT THERE. YOU HAVE TO PROTECT YOURSELF. IT GOT SO BAD THERE WAS ACTUALLY A FIRE IN OREGON, JUST A NATURAL FIRE, AND THIS ONE TOWN CONVINCED ITSELF THAT ANITFA SETS THE FIRES AND WAS COMING TO THE TOWN TO SET MORE FIRES. THEY JUST JUMPED UP, GOT ALL OF THEIR GUNS, SET UP ROADBLOCKS INTO THE TOWN AND TWO BLOGGERS FROM PORTLAND DROVE INTO THIS. IT COULD HAVE BEEN DEAD -- COULD HAVE BEEN THAT. THE POLICE DID NOT ARREST ANYONE . THE POLICE DID NOT SAY PUT YOUR WEAPONS ON THE GROUND, LET ME SEE YOUR HANDS AT THE CHECKPOINT. THE POLICE WERE LIKE WOULD YOU DISPERSE? TAKE YOUR WEAPON SONG. THIS IS RIDICULOUS. I'M NOT EVEN SURE IF THEY SAID THIS IS RIDICULOUS. IT WAS, YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO ROADBLOCK THESE ROADS. IT WAS ANOTHER INDICATOR OF THE MADNESS THAT WAS NOW TAKING OVER , WHAT WOULD BE, THE TITUS. WHY DO I USE THAT PHRASE? IN THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY, WE LIKE PACKAGES. IT IS BETTER TO IDENTIFY YOUR THREAT WITH EQUAL TITLE. WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL IT. TITUS IS A PRETTY SOLID ACRONYM FOR PEOPLE WHO IT IS ALL ABOUT DONALD TRUMP. IT IS NOT ABOUT AMERICA, IT IS ABOUT A VERSION OF AMERICA THAT EXISTS RIGHT HERE. THERE IS ANY OLD STORY FROM "THE ONION," A FEW YEARS BACK, IT IS THE RECORD IN AMERICA. IT WAS "MAN PLEDGES ALLEGIANCE TO THE CONSTITUTION IN HIS HEAD ." A WILD MALONES OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS, THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, AND THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE THIS MAN THINKS IS THE CONSTITUTION. IT IS IN HIS HEAD. ALL OF THIS WAS MASS HYSTERIA STEMMING FROM THE CLERGY -- THE CRAZY WORDS OF DONALD TRUMP WHICH WAS FORMING THE WALLS ON THEIR BELIEF SYSTEM. THEN ENTER QANON WHICH IS A CRAZY GROUP. I KNOW YOU WILL GET TO THAT. THIS ALL CAME TOGETHER AND WAS READY AND POISED ON NOVEMBER 4. WHEN THEY DID NOT GET WHAT THEY WANTED, THEY DENIED REALITY. THEY BELIEVE DONALD TRUMP SHOULD DECLARE HIMSELF PRESIDENT. THEY LIT A MATCH. THAT SHOWED YOU WHO TITUS WAS. 40,000 PEOPLE. BEN SHAPIRO WHEN I SAID ON BILL MARK THAT THE PARK SERVICE HAS COUNTED THESE PEOPLE. THERE WERE 40,000 PEOPLE AT THE RALLY. DONALD TRUMP SAID ONE MILLION. 10,000 OF THEM ATTACKED AT THE CAPITAL. YOU CAN SEE IN A EASY 2000, 3000, 4000 IF YOU LOOK DOWN THE STEPS ON ONE SPOT. HE WAS LIKE, THAT IS A LIE. JULY. I REMEMBER SITTING THERE THINKING EITHER THIS IS AN ACT OR YOU NEVER LEARNED ARITHMETIC OR HE THOUGHT IT WAS ONE MILLION. HE IS A PROPAGANDIST SO HE DOES NOT KNOW. HE DOES IS LITTLE ANGRY CHIPMUNK ROUTINE. I THOUGHT, THIS IS A LEVEL OF DENIAL THAT IS DANGEROUS. YOU SAW TITUS EMERGE. THE FRONT END OF THOSE PEOPLE WHERE THE MALICIOUS AND TERRORIST GROUPS, THE PROUD BOYS. THE REST OF THEM WERE NOT MEMBERS OF THOSE GROUPS.

At 24:56 Nance talked about what the US intelligence community knew before 1/6 and what the House 1/6 Committee was disclosing at the time C-Span taped the program:

PLANNING WAS OBVIOUS TO ME. THE JANUARY 6 COMMITTEE IS JUST GETTING TO REVEALING WHAT MOST ANALYSTS WERE SEEING IN REAL-TIME PRINCIPALLY IN NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER. I HAVE BEEN SEEING A LOT OF THESE GUN GROUPS AND PATRIOTS, RANGE PARTY GROUPS GET TOGETHER AND START SAYING YOU HAVE GOT TO GET TACTICAL TRAINING BY THE ELECTION. THERE WERE GUN RANGES, THERE WAS AN EX NAVY SEAL RUNNING PATRIOT CLASSES. WHO NEEDS PATRIOT CLASSES IN CLOSE QUARTER BATTLE? WHO IS GOING TO HAVE TO COME THROUGH A DOOR AND CLEARED A ROOM IN AN URBAN WARFARE ENVIRONMENT? NOT SOMEONE WHO IS SHOOTING PAPER. NOT SOMEONE WHO IS TRYING TO GAIN PROFICIENCY AT IT HUNDRED YARDS. THAT IS SOMEONE WHO PLANS ON DOING BATTLE IN CLOSE QUARTERS. WE WERE SEEING ALL OF THAT AND IT WAS BECOMING FRANTIC IN THE RUN-UP TO THE ELECTION. AFTER THAT, THE ORGANIZATION OF THE LEADER OF THE CROWD WAS SPEAKING TO THE LEADER OF THE OATH KEEPERS, THAT WAS HAPPENING A LOT. THEY WERE SAYING IT, I MET WITH X AND I MET WITH Y. BY THE DECEMBER PROTESTS IN WASHINGTON, D.C. WHERE THEY WERE WILLING TO DO ARMS PROTEST -- ARMED COMBAT WITH ANITFA. THEY ARE LIKE ISIS. I AM NOT JOKING. THEIR CORE PHILOSOPHY IS IF YOU ARE NOT ONE OF US, WE CAN KILL YOU. YOU HAVE TO JOIN US TO SURVIVE. THESE GUYS WERE COORDINATED AND I HOPE THE WHOLE -- AND I HAVE A WHOLE CHAPTER OF IT WHERE THEY ARE JUST TALKING ABOUT IT THIS WEEK. THIS BOOK WAS DONE LAST AUGUST. YOU ARE READING A PRODUCT THAT WAS A YEAR AHEAD OF THESE BRIEFINGS. ANOTHER THING I DO IS I GO OUT EVEN FURTHER AS TO WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN AFTER THIS. TALKING ABOUT THEM ORGANIZING IS NATURAL. IN MANY INSTANCES I HAD TO GO BACK AND SAY THERE IS A GAP OF INFORMATION HERE. THAT IS HOW THE ANALYST COMMUNITY DOESN'T, THERE ARE TWO CONVERSATIONS I AM MISSING HERE. THEY WOULD HAVE TO SAY WHATEVER IS IMPACTING THE NEXT CONVERSATION. WE COULD RE-CREATE THEIR MEETINGS AND ANOTHER JANUARY 6 HAS THEIR RECORDS AND THEY HAVE ALL OF THOSE MEETINGS AND THEY WERE AN ARMY ORGANIZING.

The treasonous ex-president plans for his 2nd term: Dictatorship, bigotry & cruelty are on tap

The traitor ex-president is acting like he will run for president again in 2024. Maybe he is serious, or maybe he is just continuing his massive grift. His recent speeches are laying out his agenda. In his speeches, T**** discusses six policies he wants to implement if he gets back in office. The Washington Post writes:

Strip job protections for federal workers

In October 2020, Trump signed an executive order reclassifying tens of thousands of federal workers to remove their employment protections and make them easier to fire. The National Treasury Employees Union sued to stop the change, and before a court could rule on the challenge, Biden took office and revoked the order.

Lately, Trump has declared his intent to restore the change and put it to greater use. He’s gone further by calling on Congress to overhaul the civil service through a statute, which could be more sweeping and harder to reverse than an executive order.

Shrinking the federal bureaucracy and thereby weakening the civil service has been a long-standing conservative goal. Good-government groups say undermining the merit-based workforce would hurt professionalism and lead to politicization, reviving the “spoils system” of the 19th century, when government jobs were doled out to reward partisan supporters.

Restrict voting to one day using paper ballots

Trump’s grievances over losing the 2020 election and baseless conspiracy theories about voter fraud have inspired Republican state lawmakers across the country to propose and adopt new voting restrictions. Trump has called for measures such as universal voter ID since disbanding in 2018 the commission he established to back up his false claim of millions of fraudulent votes costing him the 2016 popular vote.

Trump has recently added a demand for same-day voting using paper ballots. “That should be our goal,” he said at CPAC. The proposal echoes his false claims blaming mail ballots and electronic voting machines for his loss in 2020.

Deploy federal force against crime, unrest and protests

During the social justice protests that followed George Floyd’s murder in 2020, .... Trump threatened to deploy the military unless state and local officials cracked down harder on the protests.

In recent speeches, Trump has said he showed too much deference to local leaders and wished he’d ordered more federal intervention. Trump indicated he wouldn’t hesitate in the future.

“The next president should use every power at his disposal to restore order, and if necessary, that includes sending in the National Guard or the troops,” Trump said at CPAC on Aug. 6. “I think the next time, either we’re going for a very quick change or we’re sending them in.”

Eliminate the Education Department

“Across the country, we need to implement strict prohibitions on teaching inappropriate racial, sexual and political material to America’s schoolchildren in any form whatsoever,” Trump said at CPAC, “and if federal bureaucrats are going to push this radicalism, we should abolish the Department of Education.”

The Education Department, created in 1980, has about 4,400 employees and a discretionary budget of more than $78 billion. Most of the money goes to grants for local agencies to serve disadvantaged or disabled students and to financial aid or loan subsidies for college students. Trump did not specify whether some or all of those functions would be reassigned to other agencies or eliminated.

“Repealing the department doesn’t actually mean much if you don’t repeal the laws it’s responsible for implementing or enforcing,” said Michael J. Petrilli, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, which conducts research on education, and a fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. “If you wanted to actually get rid of not just the name but everything it does, you’re talking about taking away tens of billions of dollars from K-12 schools and higher education, which would be incredibly unpopular.”

Move homeless people to outlying ‘tent cities’

Trump’s solution is to move homeless people to “tent cities” on the outskirts of metropolitan areas, staffed with medical professionals and built to house hundreds of thousands or even millions of people.

“The only way you’re going to remove the homeless encampments and reclaim our downtowns is to open up large parcels, large tracts, of relatively inexpensive land on the outer skirts of the various cities and bring in medical professionals, psychiatrists, psychologists and drug rehab specialists and create tent cities,” Trump said on Aug. 6 at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas. “You don’t have time to build buildings, you can do that later, but you have to get the people off the street. We have to bring back, we have to reclaim our cities.”

Execute drug dealers

Trump has a long record of supporting the death penalty and has advocated executing people for drug crimes since at least 2018. His recent speeches have repeatedly returned to the idea as part of his public-safety messaging.

“If you look at countries all throughout the world, no matter where you go, the only ones that don’t have a drug problem are those that institute the death penalty for drug dealers,” Trump said at a law-and-order-themed speech in Las Vegas in July. In the Washington speech, he elaborated by calling for a joint task force of the departments of Justice and Homeland Security to dismantle gangs and organized street crime.

Building an American dictatorship 

The first two, making firing federal workers easy and undermining elections are core tactics that Viktor Orban used to kill democracy in Hungary in ~2010-2012. Orban fired large numbers of professional bureaucrats, claiming austerity, and then replaced them with twice as many loyalists. That cemented destruction of honest and professional government and its replacement with corrupt incompetent government. Orban also targeted elections to rig them so that he could never lose an election. He has since won three elections that experts assert were blatantly fraudulent.

In a nutshell, Orban deployed demagoguery to neuter government and voter's power in elections to install himself. Accomplishing those goals were needed to set himself up as dictator for life in Hungary.

The ex-president's intent to establish himself as the first American dictator for life is crystal clear here. There is no dispute. To reinforce his new power from neutering professional government and voters in elections, T**** also proposes sending in the military to put down protests. He is willing to use the US military to shoot people dead in the streets.

Establishing and normalizing Christian and racist bigotry

Eliminating the education department is T****'s nod to the radical Christian nationalist wing of the Republican Party. That goal is fascist radical right culture war. T**** and the GOP Christian nationalists desperately want to be able to (i) re-write inconvenient parts of history to sanitize and Christianize the inconveniences, and (ii) openly discriminate against the LGBQT community, racial and ethnic minorities, women and all non-Christians in public schools. Eliminating the US education department makes a lot of sense. Truth is a deadly enemy to fascism and intolerant Christian theocracy and racial and ethnic minorities are hated by racists. The federal education department acts to tamp down the lies and bigotry, so it has to go.

Implementing and normalizing vicious cruelty

Moving the homeless out of cities and executing drug dealers is harsh, but there probably is some or a lot of support for those measures. Obviously, the idea of moving homeless people first and then adding human support and physical infrastructure is nonsense. That would never happen. The homeless would just  be forced into "temporary" tent camps and rotten conditions. T**** and the GOP have no intent of ever dealing with the squalor and misery the homeless would be living in outside the cities. Homeless people are just unsightly human wreckage. Once they are pushed out of sight and out of mind, they will be abandoned in prison camps where people won't see the squalor.

Either way, dead or forced into tent camps, out of sight means out of mind. T**** and Republican elites are damn cruel mofos.

T**** advocating for tent cities